Gina from HauntedFlower.com and HauntedFlowerReviews.com gives her opinions of last week’s release of Oscar nominations for 2012 and mentions which animated film got snubbed as well as her predictions for the winners.
January 1, 2012
Top 10 Worst Movies of 2011
Gina from HauntedFlower.com and HauntedFlowerReviews.com reveals her list of the top ten WORST movies she saw in 2011.
January 1, 2012
Top 10 Best Movies of 2011
Gina from HauntedFlower.com and HauntedFlowerReviews.com reveals her list of the top 10 best movies she enjoyed watching in 2011.
December 22, 2011
400th Video Celebration!
Gina from HauntedFlower.com and HauntedFlowerReviews.com celebrates having uploaded 400 videos with song, dance, cats, and a ton of energy!
December 13, 2011
IFJA Announces 2011 Awards
On Saturday, December 10th, the members of the Indiana Film Journalists Association gathered at Sahm’s Tavern downtown (where they make delicious mushroom appetizers) to discuss the best films, actors, screenplays, and directors of the year. There was much arguing, grandstanding, and the occasional arm-wrestling, but eventually the votes were tallied and here is where we stood. (Keep in mind, many of my main choices did not win out and I’ll be posting my own top awards at the end of the month. 
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Enjoy!
Indiana Film Journalists Association Announces 2011 Awards
The Indiana Film Journalists Association, an organization of journalists dedicated to promoting quality film criticism in the Hoosier State, is pleased to announce its annual film awards for 2011.
“The Artist” took top honors, winning Best Film as well as Best Director (Michel Hazanavicius) and Best Musical Score (Ludovic Bource).
“Win Win” earned two prizes, Paul Giamatti for Best Actor and Thomas McCarthy for Best Original Screenplay.
“The Descendants,” which was named runner-up for Best Film, won Best Adapted Screenplay for Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash.
Elizabeth Olsen took the Best Actress prize for “Martha Marcy May Marlene,” while Viola Davis was named Best Supporting Actress for “The Help.” Christopher Plummer took Best Supporting Actor for “Beginners.”
Winners were declared in 14 categories, with a runner-up in 13 categories. In addition, a total of 10 movies (including the winner and runner-up) were recognized as Finalists for the top prize, Best Film of the Year.
“Rango” was named Best Animated Film, “Project Nim” Best Documentary and “The Skin I Live In” Best Foreign Language Film. “The Tree of Life” was given the Original Vision Award.
Lindsay Goffman was honored with The Hoosier Award as the producer of “Dumbstruck,” a documentary about ventriloquists that was released nationally by Magnolia Pictures.
A word of explanation about the last two categories:
The Original Vision Award is meant to recognize a film that is especially innovative or groundbreaking.
The Hoosier Award recognizes a significant cinematic contribution by a person or persons with Indiana roots. As a special award, no runner-up is declared.
The following is a complete list of honored films:
Best Film of the Year
Winner: “The Artist”
Runner-up: “The Descendants”
Other Finalists: “Coriolanus,” “Drive,” “Hugo,” “Martha Marcy May Marlene,” “The Muppets,” “The Skin I Live In,” “Super 8,” “The Tree of Life.”
“A rapturous movie full of passion and artistry, self-aware but not self-absorbed.” – Christopher Lloyd, The Film Yap.Com About “The Artist.”
Best Animated Film
Winner: “Rango”
Runner-up: “Winnie the Pooh”
“A neon-colored, sun-baked fantasia that’s part Western spoof and part surrealist jag through the desert with Johnny Depp as our theatrically unhinged, reptilian tour guide.” - Christopher Lloyd, The Film Yap.Com”
“A sweet little slice of apple pie” – Joe Shearer, The Film Yap.Com on “Winnie the Pooh”
Best Foreign Language Film
Winner: “The Skin I Live In”
Runner-up: “13 Assassins”
“The Skin I Live In” is a wonderfully twisted cinematic expedition into territory rarely traveled.” – Christopher Lloyd, The Film Yap.Com
Best Documentary
Winner: “Project Nim”
Runner-up: “Into the Abyss”
“Into the Abyss, regardless of where you find yourself on the subject of capital punishment, is one of Herzog’s most deeply moving documentaries but it is also an undeniably sad film.” – Richard Propes, The Independent Critic.Com
Best Original Screenplay
Winner: Thomas McCarthy, “Win Win”
Runner-up: J.C. Chandor, “Margin Call”
“The dialogue is terrific, rolling off the actors’ tongues with an ungilded grace.” –Christopher Lloyd, The Film Yap.Com on Thomas McCarthy’s screenplay for “Win Win”
Best Adapted Screenplay
Winner: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, “The Descendants”
Runner-up: Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin, “Moneyball”
Best Director
Winner: Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”
Runner-up: Terrence Malick, “The Tree of Life”
Best Actress
Winner: Elizabeth Olsen, “Martha Marcy May Marlene”
Runner-up: Tilda Swinton, “We Need To Talk About Kevin”
“Olsen’s performance here is one of the most courageous in recent memory, somewhat reminiscent of Kidman’s performance from Rabbit Hole last year but even more impactful, vulnerable and transcendent.”
– Richard Propes, The Independent Critic.Com
Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Viola Davis, “The Help”
Runner-up: Amy Ryan, “Win Win”
“Viola Davis gives a knockout performance as Aibileen.” – Christopher Lloyd, The Film Yap.Com
Best Actor
Winner: Paul Giamatti, “Win Win”
Runner-up: Ralph Fiennes, “Coriolanus”
“So few actors would have been capable of portraying the fullness of Mike Flaherty, a man who virtually always does the right thing but crosses his own moral line when his family’s welfare is at stake. Giamatti’s Flaherty is quiet, unassuming, complex, sweet, funny, a bit devious and even a touch sad.” – Richard Propes, The Independent Critic.Com
Best Supporting Actor
Winner: Christopher Plummer, “Beginners”
Runner-up: Albert Brooks, “Drive”
“Plummer embodies soulfulness and celebration and remarkable humanity all at once.- Richard Propes, The Independent Critic.Com
Best Musical Score
Winner: Ludovic Bource, “The Artist”
Runner-up: Howard Shore, “Hugo”
Original Vision Award
Winner: “The Tree of Life”
Runner-up: “The Artist”
“If you let yourself be taken in by the film, though, it can be an extremely rewarding experience.” – Eric Harris, CanneltonCritic.Com and Perry County News on “The Tree of Life”
IFJA Member Richard Propes with Mark and Lindsay Goffman during the Indianapolis Premiere of “Dumbstruck: The Movie.” Lindsay Goffman, a graduate of Lawrence Central High School and Indiana University, is the recipient of the 2011 Hoosier Award from the Indiana Film Journalists Association
The Hoosier Award
Winner: Lindsay Goffman, producer of “Dumbstruck”
“a genuinely entertaining, frequently funny and inspiring film that beautifully balances the stories of these five individuals, never preferring one over the other and, despite the unexpected explosive success of Terry Fator, never failing to recognize the wonder and importance of each of these five stories.’ – Richard Propes, The Independent Critic.Com
About IFJA: The Indiana Film Journalists Association was established in February 2009 with six founding members, and has since expanded its roster to 11. Members must reside in the Hoosier State and produce consistent, quality film criticism or commentary in any medium.
http://indianafilmjournalists.com
Bob Bloom, Lafayette Journal & Courier
Caine Gardner, Greencastle Banner-Graphic, The Film Yap.com
Eric Harris, Canneltoncritic.com, The Perry County News
Lou Harry, Indianapolis Business Journal
Ed Johnson-Ott, NUVO Newsweekly
Christopher Lloyd, The Film Yap.com, The Current
Richard Propes, The Independent Critic.com
Nick Rogers, Suite101.com, The Film Yap.com
Joe Shearer, The Film Yap.com, Indy.com
Matthew Socey, WFYI
Gina Wagner, IndyMojo.com / HauntedFlower.com / HauntedFlowerReviews.com <—- THAT’S ME!!!!
October 25, 2011
Ask Gina: Round 1
Gina from HauntedFlower.com and HauntedFlowerReviews.com answers your questions!
August 7, 2011
Gen Con Indy 2011
Gina gives a review and tour of Gen Con Indianapolis 2011! You get to see and hear about the types of gaming available, the anime section, and costumes, costumes, costumes! Whether this is your first trip to Gen Con or if you just want to see if you’re IN the video, you’ll want to check this out. 
Link to Gina’s full photo album of Gen Con 2011:
Gen Con 2011 Photo Album on Facebook
Sites mentioned:
http://animecrossroads.com/
http://www.facebook.com/wasabianime
May 20, 2011
Fast and the Furious Flashback
Why did I watch all four of these movies again? I’m not a fan of Paul Walker. Vin Diesel is fine if he sticks to what he’s good at: intimidation. In “Fast Five”, it’s pretty much an “Ocean’s Eleven” heist job where tons of cast members show up for the job and I thought I’d trace back to where they showed up since I hadn’t seen all the previous movies, especially in light of the extra scene after the credits in “Fast Five.”
The Fast & the Furious:
Brian (Paul Walker) is an undercover cop who infiltrates Dominic (Vin Diesel) Toretto’s gang of street racers. They race, they fight, they earn mutual respect for each other. Brian dates Dom’s sister, Mia (Jordana Brewster) which angers Dominic’s number two guy, Vince (Matt Schulze). Dominic finds out Brian is a cop and they have a pivotal quarter mile race to a train track when a train is coming. After this near-death experience, Brian gives Dominic the keys to his car and lets him get away. This movie also introduced Michelle Rodriguez’s character, Letty (Dom’s girlfriend) whom I did not even remember being in this movie since it goes so against type for her. Known for her tough girl roles, here she is just bitchy (*sniffs* “I smell…skanks.”), moody, and never smiles. At the time, I thought this movie was a one hit wonder. Paul Walker and Vin Diesel seemed to be two muscle heads who couldn’t act and didn’t have enough charisma to care about. I never bothered with 2 or 3. Rolling right ahead…
2 Fast 2 Furious:Brian lost his job as a cop for allowing Dominic to escape. Here he teams up with Tyrese Gibson as Roman Pearce to take down some bad guys undercover as a way back in to the force. Eva Mendes is an undercover cop the other police suspect will turn on them much the way Brian did and Ludacris makes his appearance as the orchestrator of the street races. When the crime boss takes Eva Mendes away on a boat, Paul Walker decides to pull a tribute to Dukes of Hazard by landing his car on it.
The Fast & the Furious: Tokyo Drift:
And now for something completely different! Take a high school student with a flair for racing and through trouble with the law (cameo by Home Improvement’s Zachary Ty Bryan as dumb jock), force him to move in with his father in Tokyo. He thinks he can still race with the best of them till he sees he is outclassed by the new craze: drifting. By drifting around corners, you can cut them much closer and take tighter turns. Without it, you just crash your car into walls. The hick accent of the lead kid, Sean played by Lucas Black is distracting, but here is where the character, Han played by Sung Kang is introduced and is the saving grace of the film. His patience, coolness, and penchant for munchies (“Hey D.K., grab a chair, we’re about to roast some marshmallows” in an attempt to diffuse a fight) makes him more attractive than Paul Walker or Vin Diesel. Cameo by Bow Wow as hustling sidekick. Sean keeps going after the wrong guy’s girlfriend and this time the wrong guy is part of the Yakuza. It ends with an exciting race down a steep mountain. Right before the credits, Vin Diesel shows up to race the kid as a tribute to Han who was taken out in a fiery crash (or so we think?? He IS in “Fast Five” after all).
And now for something completely different! Take a high school student with a flair for racing and through trouble with the law (cameo by Home Improvement’s Zachary Ty Bryan as dumb jock), force him to move in with his father in Tokyo. He thinks he can still race with the best of them till he sees he is outclassed by the new craze: drifting. By drifting around corners, you can cut them much closer and take tighter turns. Without it, you just crash your car into walls. The hick accent of the lead kid, Sean played by Lucas Black is distracting, but here is where the character, Han played by Sung Kang is introduced and is the saving grace of the film. His patience, coolness, and penchant for munchies (“Hey D.K., grab a chair, we’re about to roast some marshmallows” in an attempt to diffuse a fight) makes him more attractive than Paul Walker or Vin Diesel. Cameo by Bow Wow as hustling sidekick. Sean keeps going after the wrong guy’s girlfriend and this time the wrong guy is part of the Yakuza. It ends with an exciting race down a steep mountain. Right before the credits, Vin Diesel shows up to race the kid as a tribute to Han who was taken out in a fiery crash (or so we think?? He IS in “Fast Five” after all).
Fast and Furious
Shame on them for having a title so ridiculously similar to the original that I confused which one to start watching first. This one brings back Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez as Dom and Letty along with pre-Tokyo Han, Tweedle Dee, and Tweedle Dum in a dangerous opening heist.
Letty is suddenly a new woman who smiles and is happy and excited to be doing her job, in other words, Rodriguez is playing to her strengths so we’ll actually miss her character when she gets bumped off. Her role is pretty short, but memorable. It is said she gets murdered after working as a courier within a gang, but we don’t see it actually happen, just in Dominic’s strange forensics style flashback assessment.
Brian has been reinstated and is after the leader of a major heroin operation. Both Brian and Dominic try to infiltrate the gang. Mia is back and pissed at Brian even though five years ago he let Dom go and eventually they get back together. Gal Gadot makes her appearance as Gisele working under heroin importer, Braga. She flirts hard with Dom, but he’s so far in the throes of mourning that he barely acknowledges it. Brian and Dominic attempt to follow the law to take down Braga and Dom gets taken into custody and given a prison sentence for his efforts and the film ends with some fast cars pursuing the prison bus.
Fast Five
In “Fast Five”, Dominic, Brian, and Mia (who gets to drive now) have a heist plan. They bring back Vince (a fair weather friend), Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson, Han, Gisele, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum (sorry, I don’t give names to idiots). So…….what the heck? Han DIED in “Tokyo Drift” so they say and when he appeared for one scene in “Fast & Furious”, it was before he went to Tokyo. Is “Tokyo Drift” that far down the space/time continuum that even “Fast Five” took place before it? Whatever. He’s my favorite character so I’ll just be happy he’s around and since the last two movies were decent, I’ll look forward to six.
